Monday, March 15, 2010

Bugged!

It is beauty and blooms all around. Such is the magic of Spring that there is a breath taking outburst of colors and fragrances in the surroundings. But like everything else in life, even this goodness comes with a catch. There is a profusion of bugs out to spoil the spring party. With the official spring invitees, come the gate crashers. There are the mealy bugs, the aphids, and a host of others whose names I do not know but do wish to, so that I at least know where my curses are going. What appears like a beautiful criss cross venation pattern on the leaves is actually the handiwork of leaf miners.
After a healthy gap of two years the Mango tree is showing the promise of a bounty, but here also the bug has been quick to grab the spoils; so much for organic gardening! The usual practice is to secure a cellophane sheet around the tree stem which will prevent the bug from crawling up the tree but these slimy creatures seem blessed, as despite my best efforts a good number still manage themselves to a treat.
Here some near cousin of Aphids, whose exact credentials I do not know, has marched a whole army on my mustard plant. I am a mute spectator to the plight before the combined insect might.
All kinds of life activity are on the increase. The bugs, bees, birds, butterflies…they are all there, even the viruses are having a hay time. A nasty bout of flu left me with a slightly bitter spring taste. Winters do bring in their own set of problems but they are definitely healthier than any other season.
In spite of these problems spring remains a season to savor, and a garden full of flowers is a joy forever…

Other than the frilly designs made by the leaf miners, unless you intend to eat the nasturtium leaves, is it any problem to let them have their way with the plants? I had them in my collard greens, as you may have read on my blog, and Claude told me to sprinkle garlic powder on the soil and water it in...I do it every two weeks and it controls them perfectly.

Sorry to hear about your flu bout Doc. I am also having a touch of it also but it has only had me down for a day only with a roasting fever. Yep those bugs are a headache and that garlic powder treatment sounds like it works. Soap water will also control the mealy bugs and the aphids.

Yuck! I hate those aphids. They spoil your spring and summer! If not detected initially, it damages your plants too fast. Hope your plants get rid of them soon. Dunno if you tried Neem Spray. It works really good, but you gotta spray them weekly for such heavy infestations.

ahh yes, we all suffer with horrible pests in the garden and it is heartening to see others with the same problem. Perhaps most of us only blog mainly about our successes - it is important to let people know about the problems too! Thank you!

I will wish for many ladybugs and lacewings to fly your way. Also you can hose down or simply a good water spray will keep them down a bit. So true we can never just have bliss ... we must take the whole package... at least they are not biting you. Hope you are feeling better. I had a nasty flu too and it still is hanging onto my lungs.

ugh! Here too we're inundated with the unwanted bugs and creatures. I usually spray neem solution to keep down the bugs. Very effective because it kills their appetite both for food and procreation! It doesn't work immediately but over time you'll see that your garden has fewer bugs in it. Also do encourage the natural predators. A shallow bowl of water in your garden will attract birds, including the insect-feeders.

I have rediscovered you. My previous hard disk had crashed & over a period of time I had forgtotten ur blog name (it happens to senior citizens). I was writing (green thumb etc). I had even thought of speakiong to DM, Dehradun to seek ur identity. I have not fulfilled my dream of having a small garden but in the meantime I will savour ur garden. By the way which camera do u use to draw out such incredible pictures.

most garden insects do not have a chitinous exoskeleton.so try this-dissolve 10 grams of soap in 1 liter of water and spray it on the insects.it dissolves the lipid bilayer and kills them.no need to spray on the whole plant,just spraying on the insects will do